Mayor Cyvette Gibson, Why Do You Permit Rotten Garbage All Along Paynesville’s Main Corridor?

The saddest and most shocking thing about this terrible malaise (bad condition) is that these stinking dumpsites are not in one place, but are sprawled along the entire route from the Paynesville Red Light past Matilda Parker’s homestead, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, jam to one of the city’s main food centers, the marketplace across from the PA Rib House where some Paynesvillians buy their fish, meat, fruits, vegetables and other foods. There at this garbage-infested marketplace, our hapless and sorrowing market women have to wade through the filth to sell food to their customers. But the customers fully understand that it is no fault of the market women, but one woman in particular—whom we call “the Lord Mayor of Paynesville.”

But what is Mayor Cyvette Gibson lording over besides rotten garbage and filth strewn all over her and our city? The situation is even worse at the Paynesville Red Light Market, where little over a week ago a mountain of garbage in the middle of the highway threatened to block motor vehicle passage to the Coca Cola Factory and, of course, the entire Liberian interior. When, we would like to know, will Mayor Gibson and her team get serious about cleaning up Paynesville and adding value to the city and its real estate owners? Take the impressive P. Ernest Parker homestead, where Matilda and her siblings grew up. If the family wanted to lease the building, which is situated ideally on over an acre or two of land, who would be foolhardy enough to lease a garbage-surrounded structure? Is the Paynesville City Hall interested in protecting and preserving the valuable real estate in the city?

What is even more pitiful, in the immediate rear of the Parker Building is a clinic, called “The Goodwill Health Center.” Do the Mayor and her fellow administrators care about the terrible damage they are causing by keeping heaps of garbage right next to the clinic? Do they know the extent to which they are harming this clinic’s business? Which patient would dare seek medical care in such a filth-infested environment that would make him or her even sicker just by being exposed to filth, rats, roaches and stench from the garbage heap at the very entrance to the clinic? We recall that in June last year when American First Lady Michelle Obama was due to visit Liberia, we called on the Mayors of Monrovia and Paynesville to embark immediately upon a massive cleanup campaign before the visit took place. We specifically urged Mayor Gibson to clean up the Paynesville-Kakata corridor, which is also Paynesville’s main corridor, because we thought that the American First Lady might have passed through there en route to Kakata. It turned out that Mrs. Obama and her delegation were escorted through the Firestone Road leading to Kakata. But we were a bit surprised that Paynesville City Hall lifted not a finger to clean up anywhere in Paynesville. Instead, our advice was totally ignored. Did they care that in matters of official visits, the protocol or travel plans could change at any time? Well, because Paynesville City Hall did not lift a finger to clean up anywhere, the city’s main corridor remained as filthy as ever. Fortunately, the Executive Mansion proceeded with the original plan to travel to Kakata through Firestone. But what if?

We plead with Paynesville City Mayor Cyvette Gibson to heed our advice this time and clean up our city. The Daily Observer staff would be glad to participate in a cleanup campaign, as we did few years ago when we were at McDonald Street. A Friday or Saturday would be good, since we would not be in newspaper production. We pledge to do anything to help in this effort. We are that serious about and committed to cleanliness and good sanitation in our city. These would make life safer, more livable and pleasant for all of us.

1 COMMENT

Many of of us believed that patriotism or nationalism was about chest – beating with the refrain “I born here, I’ve been here, and will die here” until self – inflected calamities drove us to alien shores as refugees and exiles. With us speaking the various tongues of the sub – region and making babies – adults – in foreign countries, we understand what the southeastern tribes went through in the eras of ethnic cleansing and genocidal pogroms.

Now we’ ve painfully learned that nationalism has everything to do with love for people and country to the extent that doing the right thing is a calling. Simple hygiene isn’t rocket science; undoubtedly, it’s about environmental safety in a country where Ebola took thousands of lives. Perhaps, Paynesville residents would prefer that the indefatigable Mary Broh go clean thier sh.t!

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